A Peterborough man has said he and his wife were prevented from fostering by the local council because he used the term “white foreigners” to describe people from Eastern Europe during a training course.

David Mott said he received a letter saying the remark indicated a negative attitude to Eastern Europeans after the couple was rejected for fostering.

A council spokesperson said Mott and his wife did not have the characteristics required of foster parents for a number of reasons, including those suggested by Mott.

A study today has cast doubt on the ability of the government’s use of community matrons to cut emergency admissions to hospital for people with long-term conditions.

The British Medical Journal study of the US-imported Evercare scheme pilots, on which the community matrons policy is based, found it had not had a significant impact on admissions, mortality or length of stay in hospital.

Scottish Labour’s election plans were dealt a significant blow yesterday after Peter Peacock, the education minister, announced his resignation “with immediate effect”, after suffering health problems described as similar to a series of minor strokes.Peacock, who first became a minister in 1999, intends to continue at Holyrood, but with the less demanding lifestyle of an MSP. He will stand for Labour at the next election.Hugh Henry, the Deputy Justice Minister, will take over the education portfolio, at least until the Scottish elections.

A pioneering home for disabled young adults has been closed to new residents amid a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault.The ban on the Camphill community in Blair Drummond, which the centre hopes to see lifted soon, came after police were called to look into an incident between two residents this summer.It followed a separate investigation into what Camphill community called a “malicious allegation” against a member of staff, which proved to be unfounded.

Criminals sentenced to a short period in prison should instead be given mandatory community service to tackle reoffending, MSPs have been told.

Bill Whyte, director of the Criminal Justice Social Work Development Centre, said evidence shows that short-term prison sentences do little to prevent further offending.

Whyte suggested a minimum term should be established and cited a two-year cap introduced in Finland. He said those who would have been given less than two years in custody now received community sentences.

Savings of £1.7 million were agreed by Aberdeen councillors yesterday to ease pressure on the city’s social work budget and protect services to some of its most vulnerable residents. The savings are not expected to have an impact on front-line services.

Source: The Scotsman, Wednesday 15 November

Charity call to satellite track paedophiles

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, said she was willing to explore new ways to track dangerous sex offenders, as child welfare campaigners called for paedophiles to be monitored by satellite.

A Barnardo’s report calls for satellite tracking and lie detector tests to be used to improve the supervision of sex offenders in the community.

The charity said the radical measures would significantly increase the protection of children and be more effective than giving parents the right to know the identity of anyone living in their area guilty of serious sexual offences against children.

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